The National Institute of Strategic Studies discusses Distinctive NATO-Ukraine Partnership

The National Institute for Strategic Studies jointly with the NATO Liaison Office in Ukraine initiated a roundtable discussion entitled “Lessons Learned from the Distinctive NATO-Ukraine Partnership: Mechanisms of Interaction under Current Conditions”, which took place in the National Institute of Strategic Studies on 28 March. The discussions focused on two major frameworks of NATO-Ukraine co-operation – the Annual National Programme of Ukraine and the NATO-Ukraine Commission.

The meeting gathered representatives from the Presidential Administration, Secretariat of the National Security and Defence Council, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior and Emergencies, General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as someUkrainian non-governmental experts. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the NATO International Staff and representatives of the Allied Embassies in Ukraine.

The tone for the discussion was set by NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann (via video-link), Deputy Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies Mr. Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Deputy Director of International Security and Disarmament Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ruslan Nimchynskyi, and Director of the NATO Liaison Office Mr. Marcin Kozieł. The audience was also addressed by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Secretariat of the National Security and Defence Council, and the NATO International Staff. The speakers presented their views on the relevance of the Annual National Programme in the current conditions and pre-requisites for its successful implementation, as well as on the key instruments of co-ordination of NATO-Ukraine co-operation both internally – through the Commission for Ukraine’s Partnership with NATO, and with NATO – through the NATO-Ukraine Commission.

The Ukrainian participants re-confirmed Ukraine’s commitment to further develop a constructive partnership with the Alliance, as well as to implement and improve the existing co-operation mechanisms. The NATO participants assured the Ukrainian side of its respect of Ukraine’s choice of non-bloc policy and of its readiness to further assist Ukraine in reforming its security sector, introducing NATO’s defence reform standards, and implementing the Annual National Programme of Ukraine.